Israeli interior ministry announced on Tuesday that it had approved plans to build 1,100 new homes in Gilo (photo, from bbcimg.co.uk), a settler enclave in southeast Jerusalem, a move condemned by the European Union and the United States. (more…)

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that several Jewish settlement blocs in the West Bank would always remain part of Israel. His comment upset the Palestinians and undermines US efforts to restart talks aimed at eventually establishing a Palestinian state.

Netanyahu’s remarks came hours after the visit of US envoy George Mitchell who is on a mission to restart negotiations between Israel and Palestinians that have been stalled for over a year. (more…)

The failure of the marathon talks in Geneva has been confirmed by Pascal Lamy, the head of the World Trade Organisation. Their aim was to liberalise global trade, and China, India and the US have been blamed for the talks’ collapse, as they failed to agree on import rules.(more…)